Apple again rumored to bid on NFL streaming partnership

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2016
Apple, Google, Amazon and Verizon might soon be locked in a bidding war for rights to stream NFL's "Thursday Night Football," as a report on Thursday says each company is seeking favor as the league's Internet content partner.




When the NFL announced two-year TV broadcast deals with CBS and NBC for the Thursday night games, it also revealed "active discussions with prospective digital partners" for those same matches. According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple is one of the companies looking to bring NFL games to its streaming service, Variety reports.

Details of the potential deal are unknown, though Apple, Google, Amazon and Verizon's Go90 service are expected to put in bids. Pricing is likewise a mystery, though broadcasters pay hefty sums to air spotlight NFL matchups like "Monday Night Football" and weekend contests. There is a possibility that digital rights will be sold to multiple providers in an arrangement similar to the CBS and NBC deal.

At this point it seems like the NFL's initiative is in its early stages. The report notes the league is investigating a number of different distribution models, including rights to games played internationally, a feature slowly gaining in popularity.

Today's report is not the first to connect Apple to a "Thursday Night Football" partnership. Rumors in December claimed the company was in the running for a non-exclusive deal alongside Google and Yahoo.

More recently, Apple and Google were said to be in talks to buy streaming rights to three NFL matchups set to take place in London next season. It is not clear if those talks are connected to a "Thursday Night Football" bid.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Having a deal with the NFL will be extremely beneficial for the Apple TV. I'm sure it's not going to be cheap though. 
    lollivercali
  • Reply 2 of 20
    irelandireland Posts: 17,800member
    If you examine the language used for quotes in the original reports it wasn't clear that Apple was interested. In fact it seemed to me like a stadard deal making trick where you feign interest from competition to drum up prices. Just like how those crooks who run that fuel cell company planted rumours that Apple were going to buy them to push their stock price up. Sometimes you need to look closer.
    edited February 2016 ronn
  • Reply 3 of 20
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,155member
    Bundle it with a copy of the movie "Concussion."
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 4 of 20
    rogifan_oldrogifan_old Posts: 725member
    So we know nothing and the media is just throwing out names of popular companies that sound plausible. Even if Apple was going after this I can't see them getting it or if they did they'd have to put it online where anyone with an Internet connection could access it. I almost don't want them to get it because I don't trust their cloud services enough. What a PR disaster it would be if one of these games didn't stream flawlessly.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,250member
    I have to be concussed to pay money for anything football.
    fotoformat
  • Reply 6 of 20
    stevenozstevenoz Posts: 319member
    I recommend that progressive Apple follow the trend... football is an activity now known to cause brain damage: so don't buy into it. Apple's image should be brain-enhancing.

    [And don't let your kids play rough football.]

    Let football go the way of boxing... brain-damage sports that should be a relic of our primitive past.


  • Reply 7 of 20
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,324member
    rogifan_old said:
    So we know nothing and the media is just throwing out names of popular companies that sound plausible. Even if Apple was going after this I can't see them getting it or if they did they'd have to put it online where anyone with an Internet connection could access it. I almost don't want them to get it because I don't trust their cloud services enough. What a PR disaster it would be if one of these games didn't stream flawlessly.
    Yep, just like always. The media, analysts, bloggers, etc., all throw out lies sprinkled with a little truths to sell ads and however else they're making money these days. 

    I have to wonder why Microsoft's name isn't mentioned. They have the tablet/whatever-it-is concession and their cloud product beats everyone else's so why aren't they handling the streaming???????
  • Reply 8 of 20
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,324member

    stevenoz said:
    I recommend that progressive Apple follow the trend... football is an activity now known to cause brain damage: so don't buy into it. Apple's image should be brain-enhancing.

    [And don't let your kids play rough football.]

    Let football go the way of boxing... brain-damage sports that should be a relic of our primitive past.


    Not sure where you've been. Boxing is tame compared to the ultimate fighting stupidity. At least boxing has some rules while these legalized assault excuses for sports have next to none.

    The worst things about football and other "professional" sports, other than the fact they're a business and not a sport, is the fact that there's too much money involved to stop it. Just like our use of oil and gasoline. 
  • Reply 9 of 20
    supadav03supadav03 Posts: 504member
    Football plus AppleTV, yes please! Would love to see Sunday Ticket eventually come as well but I'll take TNF to start. 

    PS: What's with all this football hate? And boxing hate? And just sports hate in general on this site? I get some people aren't into it but let's not go overboard. 
  • Reply 10 of 20
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    stevenoz said:
    I recommend that progressive Apple follow the trend... football is an activity now known to cause brain damage: so don't buy into it. Apple's image should be brain-enhancing.

    [And don't let your kids play rough football.]

    Let football go the way of boxing... brain-damage sports that should be a relic of our primitive past.


    People don't care if athletes get injured. It's a brutal sport and the citizenry wants blood. If people really cared they'd first of all not want their children in our military deployed overseas to fight over oil.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 11 of 20
    birkobirko Posts: 60member
    Given Microsoft have a big sponsorship deal with NFL, I can't imagine that they do not have rather broad exclusion clauses regarding their competition. This might put Google, Apple and Amazon on the no-go list. Would be surprised if any of these three got the deal.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    kermit4krazykermit4krazy Posts: 86member
    boltsfan17 said:
    Having a deal with the NFL will be extremely beneficial for the Apple TV. I'm sure it's not going to be cheap though. 
    BFD. They teased a streaming TV service last year which prompted millions of people, myself included, to postpone our streaming service and cord cutting plans, then gave up on it because it was hard. Thursday night football? Who gives a sh*t?
  • Reply 13 of 20
    jdgazjdgaz Posts: 408member
    NFL is going to need money. Cord cutters don't care about sports. Millennial I know are totally indifferent to the sports thing. Give em a good video game instead.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    stevenoz said:
    I recommend that progressive Apple follow the trend... football is an activity now known to cause brain damage: so don't buy into it. Apple's image should be brain-enhancing.

    [And don't let your kids play rough football.]

    Let football go the way of boxing... brain-damage sports that should be a relic of our primitive past.


    120.8 million people "bought into it" last year.... outright banning sports that have injuries associated and you're left with chess and checkers... all ski racing is out, all tennis, all baseball, all running, hurdles etc. let alone discus and javelin (shoulder separations), bike racing, car racing, basketball...... 

    "Sunday Night Crossword Puzzle!" Are YOU ready for some three across?

    Progressive.....

    ETA: While I don't find football entertaining sports are the logical thing for streaming since realtime results are far more important than for various fictional entertainments so the immediate, anywhere, realtime access to the sports event will draw live eyeballs to the screens (and thus the advertisements).
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 15 of 20
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,857member
    cpsro said:
    I have to be concussed to pay money for anything football.
    Good one.  However, that joke would work for American Football.  I don't think football itself has that many head injuries.  Some for sure and heading the ball is discouraged for teens I believe.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 16 of 20
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    kermit4krazy said:
    boltsfan17 said:
    Having a deal with the NFL will be extremely beneficial for the Apple TV. I'm sure it's not going to be cheap though. 
    BFD. They teased a streaming TV service last year which prompted millions of people, myself included, to postpone our streaming service and cord cutting plans, then gave up on it because it was hard. Thursday night football? Who gives a sh*t?
    Millions of people in the US postponed streaming service plans due to the rumour that Apple would launch a service?  I think you give the Apple rumour mill too much credit in the wider world, and I think it is funny you blame Apple who never stated (or teased) anything about it.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    kent909kent909 Posts: 731member
    The NFL made 9 billion last year. Goodell says wants that figure to be 25 billion by 2027. Until the time comes that no one wants to play football and risk their health it is not going away. All involved are complicit including the fans. 
  • Reply 18 of 20
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,056member
    Why would Apple want to do this? It's free broadcast with an OTA antenna unless they do this for people in other countries. Well, American football is not popular outside of US anyway.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,056member
    kermit4krazy said:
    boltsfan17 said:
    Having a deal with the NFL will be extremely beneficial for the Apple TV. I'm sure it's not going to be cheap though. 
    BFD. They teased a streaming TV service last year which prompted millions of people, myself included, to postpone our streaming service and cord cutting plans, then gave up on it because it was hard. Thursday night football? Who gives a sh*t?
    Who teased? Media or AI? Apple said nothing. You're responsible for your own cord cutting plan, not Apple. Get SlingTV and a damn OTA antenna. You get most of your stuffs there. If you're Amazon Prime member, you can pretty much say goodbye to cable/Satellite TV.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,056member

    digitalclips said:
    cpsro said:
    I have to be concussed to pay money for anything football.
    Good one.  However, that joke would work for American Football.  I don't think football itself has that many head injuries.  Some for sure and heading the ball is discouraged for teens I believe.
    UFC don't have head injuries even though they have tons of concussions...NFL is a whining pussy.
Sign In or Register to comment.